I generally don't like Baltimore Orioles. Hey, I'm a lifelong Yankees fan. But that's baseball. When it comes to birds, the Baltimore Oriole is one of the most beautiful avians around.
So ... my wife and I went over to our daughter's house in Brewster (Cape Cod) this afternoon. I to do some manual mowing, she to check out some yard sales. Later in the day, after I finished the lawn and she unpacked, she heard a chirping right outside her car on the driveway. She got out to see a cute little chubby bird with a yellow underbelly chirping its head off.
She called me over. We decided to move it out of the driveway, which obviously is not the safest place, especially for a bird that didn't seem to want or be able to fly. I gently picked it up and moved it to a place under a nearby shrub. The little bird continued to chip, walked a bit, an attempted to fly. It jumped or managed to fly onto the lowest branch of the shrub.
My wife called Mike O'Connor in the Bird Watcher's General Store in Orleans. He advised us to leave it alone, and assured my wife that the bird's parents would take care of finding it and feeding it. But he suggested that we could also call Wild Care of Cape Code in Eastham and tell them our story.
My wife sent them a video (video at bottom of post) and photo (photo at top of post) of the little bird. They told my wife the bird looked "tired and droopy" and could we bring it in. Which we did, after I gently picked it up and it put in an Amazon box (they're useful).
The helpful woman at Wild Care took in the bird, told us it definitely was a fledgling, and it was cold. She suggested they keep it overnight, feed it, and if was doing well tomorrow, we take it back to where we found it. Otherwise, she says they already have a Baltimore Oriole under their care, and it could use a friend. She also mentioned that fledglings like this that leave the nest are in maximum danger of predation, and most little Orioles like this "don't make it". Hey, I like foxes, too, but I'd rather this little bird have a life.
I'll keep you posted here on what we do and found out about this fledgling Baltimore Oriole tomorrow.
video by Tina Vozick
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